For the Man Who Has Everything
"For the Man Who Has Everything" is the second episode of , and it was adapted from the story written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Plot Batman and Wonder Woman have arrived at the Fortress of Solitude to pay their respects to Superman on his birthday. Upon arrival, they discover their Justice League teammate is standing in place, unaware of his surroundings, and under the spell of a mysterious and alien-looking organism. What they do not immediately realize is that the Last Son of Krypton has been subdued by the Black Mercy, a plant from a distant galaxy that renders its victims helpless and delusional in a dreamworld created from their heart's desires. Superman is now trapped in his mind in a most tantalizing prison: a Krypton that never exploded, living on a small farm, married to a Kryptonian woman named Loana (an amalgamation of his two loves, Lois Lane and Lana Lang) with a little son, Van-El. In the real world, Superman is still incapacitated as Mongul appears before Batman and Wonder Woman to reveal the origins of the plant. With Superman trapped in a world he himself has created, Mongul presumes that conquering Earth will now be exceedingly simple. Batman tries futilely to buy time and gather clues about the plant, but Wonder Woman's rage cannot be contained. She engages Mongul, though it is apparent from the start that she is overmatched. Kal-El's journey of the mind takes him before his father, Jor-El, now a tired old man forever shamed by his premature warnings of Krypton's destruction. However Superman now sees the cracks in his false reality, and perhaps the words of his friend Batman, ringing in the real world, are starting to slip through to his subconscious. Batman pulls frantically at the Black Mercy in the real world as Kal-El, now realizing he is simply imagining his new life, tearfully says goodbye to a son who can never exist. The Mercy comes free, but immediately clamps onto the chest of Batman, who now slips into his own dreamworld—a world where Thomas Wayne retaliated and overpowered the gunman that killed him and his wife in reality. However, like Superman's dream, it turns sour when the gunman regained himself and shot Thomas. Superman tears after Mongul, and a brutally beaten Wonder Woman crawls to Batman's side to help snap him out of his dreamworld. Superman batters the would-be tyrant, even resorting to using his heat vision to burn Mongul's chest. However, before he can strike a decisive blow, Superman is distracted by the statues of his parents holding Krypton aloft, and in his moment of hesitation, Mongul gains the advantage. By now, Wonder Woman has helped Batman break free of the Mercy's illusion. Just before Mongul can slaughter Superman, the villain looks up to see Batman and Wonder Woman—and a familiar plant falling towards him. The plant strikes, freezing Mongul in place and putting him under the spell of the Black Mercy. As the heroes ponder just what it is that Mongul's heart and mind is causing him to experience, Batman comments: "Whatever it is, it's too good for him." Mongul looks beaten but seemingly satisfied, as cries of agony from dying people and sounds of war echo in his mind. Continuity * Batman references Superman's defeating and humiliating Mongul in , "War World". Background Information Production Notes * Jor-El's design is similar to the design of Superman in the first season of Justice League. Some fans disliked the needless lines on Superman's face that were supposed to make him look chiseled, instead claiming it made him look 20 years older than he did in . Bruce Timm stated in the commentary this is a intentional gag. * First appearance of Wonder Woman's invisible plane. Its origin was meant to be told through a feature film, Justice League: World's Collide, which would also depict the expansion of the League's membership, but the project was postponed indefinitely. Its replacement, Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths, eventually revealed it to be Owlman's jet. * The sound of the Neural Impactor is a high-pitched version of the Howie Scream. Production Inconsistencies * To date, three movies have been made called The Mark of Zorro; a silent film in 1920, a TV movie in 1976, and the famed 1940 version starring Tyrone Power, all based on Johnston McCulley's The Curse of Capistrano. However, young Bruce's boasts "Beware my terrible sword" and "Let all evildoers beware my..." seem odd after having just seen this story; it does not feature any boasts, nor many "evildoers". In fact, in the guise of Zorro, Diego Vega hardly speaks at all. Most of the action features Diego in his civilian identity. Trivia * The story is derived from the celebrated Alan Moore comic book story of the same name, published in 1985. With the author's permission, the JLU creative team made several key changes. ** Unlike the DC Comics version, Jason Todd is not present. The original story featured the Jason Todd Robin, who turned out to be the one who saved Superman from Mongul. ** Here, Wonder Woman's present is a new flower called the "Krypton", while Batman's gift ("What do you get for the man who has everything?") is simply a card with cash. The original story depicted Batman presenting the new breed of flower and Wonder Woman presenting Superman with a reproduction of the bottled city Kandor, which (unbeknownst to Wonder Woman) Superman already had. ** Kal-El's "wife" is Loana, a merger of Lois Lane and Lana Lang, with Lois's voice, rather than Lyla Ler-Rol. ** Kal-El's "daughter" Orna is omitted. ** Many of the cues were taken verbatim from the original story, including Superman's vicious heat vision attack on Mongul and his subsequent curse: "Burn". ** Likewise, Wonder Woman grabs a weapon and fires it at Mongul, just as she does in the comic story, only her curse "Go to hell!" had to be abbreviated for censorship reasons. This is one of several occasions the word "hell" has been cut off. ** The comics story had Kal-El's "dream" Krypton depicted in more detail, and featured a subplot of a rebellion against society involving Jor-El and cousin Kara. ** Batman's vision when ensnared by the Black Mercy is longer in the comics, where Joe Chill is arrested after Thomas Wayne subdues him, and he later marries Katherine Kane (the comics' Batwoman) and has a teenage daughter. ** DCAU viewers do not get to see Mongul's fantasy as it was depicted in the comics: he imagines killing Superman and all of the heroes, and ruling over Earth — creating a new War World. This is hinted at by the end of the episode, when the audience hears screams of pain and terror from inside Mongul's head. * This episode marks the first and only appearance by Joe Chill (who is voiced by Kevin Conroy) in the DCAU. * The movie that is being shown as the Wayne family is leaving the movie theater is The Mark of Zorro. * Loana mentions the upcoming party of "Little Zod", a nod to the Kryptonian criminal General Zod who otherwise has never been alluded to in the DCAU (Instead Jax-Ur and Mala filled a similar role). * Mongul is revealed to have been significantly far more of a threat than he seemed in his first appearance; explicitly making the point that Superman was the only person who stood any chance of beating him. Many of his lines of dialogue are also more sinister in nature. Perhaps to signify his becoming a more dangerous villain, his design has been tweaked slightly in that the silver bands on his clothing are now all black and a darker shade of purple is used for his main costume. Cast Uncredited Appearances *Krypto (dog) * Martha Wayne * Brainiac Quotes External links *Episode review at ToonZone Category:Justice League Unlimited episodes